hang

to fasten or attach (a thing) so that it is supported only from above or at a point near its own top; suspend.

2.

to attach or suspend so as to allow free movement:

to hang a pendulum.

3.

to place in position or fasten so as to allow easy or ready movement.

4.

to put to death by suspending by the neck from a gallows, gibbet, yardarm, or the like.

5.

to suspend (oneself) by the neck until dead:

He hanged himself from a beam in the attic.

6.

to fasten to a cross; crucify.

7.

to furnish or decorate with something suspended:

to hang a room with pictures.

8.

to fasten into position; fix at a proper angle:

to hang a scythe.

9.

to fasten or attach (wallpaper, pictures, etc.) to a wall:

to hang pictures in a room.

10.

to suspend (something) in front of anything:

to hang curtains on a window.

11.

Fine Arts.

to exhibit (a painting or group of paintings):

The gallery hung his paintings in a small corner.

to put the paintings of (an art exhibition) on the wall of a gallery:

They hung the show that morning.

12.

to attach or annex as an addition:

to hang a rider on a bill.

13.

to attach (a door or the like) to its frame by means of hinges.

14.

to make (an idea, form, etc.) dependent on a situation, structure, concept, or the like, usually derived from another source:

He hung the meaning of his puns on the current political scene.

15.

(of a juror) to keep (a jury) from rendering a verdict by refusing to agree with the others.

16.

Informal. to cause (a nickname, epithet, etc.) to become associated with a person:

Friends hung that nickname on him.

17.

Slang. to hit with (a fist, blow, punch, etc.):

He hung a left on his opponent's jaw.

18.

Baseball. to throw (a pitch) so that it fails to break, as a curve.

19.

Nautical. to steady (a boat) in one place against a wind or current by thrusting a pole or the like into the bottom under the boat and allowing the wind or current to push the boat side-on against the pole.

20.

(used in mild curses and emphatic expressions, often as a euphemism for damn):

4.Hang,lynch have in common the meaning of “to put to death,” but lynching is not always by hanging. Hang, in the sense of execute, is in accordance with a legal sentence, the method of execution being to suspend by the neck until dead. To lynch, however, implies the summary putting to death, by any method, of someone charged with a flagrant offense (though guilt may not have been proved). Lynching is done by private persons, usually a mob, without legal authority. 26. depend, rely, rest, hinge.

Usage note

Hang has two forms for the past tense and past participle, hanged and hung. The historically older form hanged is now used exclusively in the sense of causing or putting to death: He was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. In the sense of legal execution, hung is also quite common and is standard in all types of speech and writing except in legal documents. When legal execution is not meant, hung has become the more frequent form: The prisoner hung himself in his cell.

hung

(of a legislative assembly) not having a party with a working majority: a hung parliament

unable to reach a decision: a hung jury

(of a situation) unable to be resolved

3.

(informal) hung over, suffering from the effects of a hangover

4.

(slang) hung up

impeded by some difficulty or delay

in a state of confusion; emotionally disturbed

5.

(slang) hung up on, obsessively or exclusively interested in: he's hung up on modern art these days

Usage note

For most senses of hang the past tense and past participle is hung: I hung the curtains; he had hung the new painting on the wall. However, when the meaning is 'to suspend or be suspended by the neck until dead', the past tense and past participle is hanged: the traitors were hanged; they had hanged him at dawn. This form is also used in the idiom I'll be hanged

hang

/hæŋ/

verb hangs, hanging, hung (hʌŋ)

1.

to fasten or be fastened from above, esp by a cord, chain, etc; suspend: the picture hung on the wall, to hang laundry

2.

to place or be placed in position as by a hinge so as to allow free movement around or at the place of suspension: to hang a door

3.

(intransitive) sometimes foll by over. to be suspended or poised; hover: a pall of smoke hung over the city

4.

(intransitive) sometimes foll by over. to be imminent; threaten

5.

(intransitive) to be or remain doubtful or unresolved (esp in the phrase hang in the balance)

6.

(past tense and past participle hanged) to suspend or be suspended by the neck until dead

7.

(transitive) to fasten, fix, or attach in position or at an appropriate angle: to hang a scythe to its handle

8.

(transitive) to decorate, furnish, or cover with something suspended or fastened: to hang a wall with tapestry

9.

(transitive) to fasten to or suspend from a wall: to hang wallpaper

10.

to exhibit (a picture or pictures) by (a particular painter, printmaker, etc) or (of a picture or a painter, etc) to be exhibited in an art gallery, etc

11.

to fall or droop or allow to fall or droop: to hang one's head in shame

12.

(of cloth, clothing, etc) to drape, fall, or flow, esp in a specified manner: her skirt hangs well

13.

(transitive) to suspend (game such as pheasant) so that it becomes slightly decomposed and therefore more tender and tasty

14.

(of a jury) to prevent or be prevented from reaching a verdict

15.

(past tense and past participle hanged) (slang) to damn or be damned: used in mild curses or interjections: I'll be hanged before I'll go out in that storm

past tense of hang; meaning "having impressive male genitals" is from 1640s; of a jury, "unable to agree," 1838, American English. Hung-over (also hungover) in the drinking sense is from 1950 (see hangover); hung-up "obsessed" is from 1961.

hang

v.

a fusion of Old English hon "suspend" (transitive, class VII strong verb; past tense heng, past participle hangen), and Old English hangian (weak, intransitive, past tense hangode) "be suspended;" also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja "suspend," and hanga "be suspended." All from Proto-Germanic *khang- (cf. Old Frisian hangia, Dutch hangen, German hängen), from PIE *kank- "to hang" (cf. Gothic hahan, Hittite gang- "to hang," Sanskrit sankate "wavers," Latin cunctari "to delay;" see also second element in Stonehenge). As a method of execution, in late Old English (but originally specifically of crucifixion).

Hung emerged as past participle 16c. in northern England dialect, and hanged endured only in legal language (which tends to be conservative) and metaphors extended from it (I'll be hanged). Teen slang sense of "spend time" first recorded 1951; hang around "idle, loiter" is from 1830, and hang out (v.) is from 1811. Hang fire (1781) was originally used of guns that were slow in communicating the fire through the vent to the charge. To let it all hang out "be relaxed and uninhibited" is from 1967.

n.

late 15c., "a sling," from hang (v.). Meaning "a curtain" is from c.1500; that of "the way cloth hangs" is from 1797. To get the hang of (something) "become capable" is from 1834, American English. Perhaps originally in reference to a certain tool or feat, but, if so, its origin has been forgotten. It doesn't seem to have been originally associated with drapery or any other special use of hang.

'To get the hang of a thing,' is to get the knack, or habitual facility of doing it well. A low expression frequently heard among us. In the Craven Dialect of England is the word hank, a habit; from which this word hang may perhaps be derived. [John Russell Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," New York, 1848]

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.Cite This Source

hung in Technology

["hung up"] Equivalent to wedged, but more common at Unix/C sites. Not generally used of people. Synonym with locked up, wedged; compare hosed. See also hang. A hung state is distinguished from crashed or down, where the program or system is also unusable but because it is not running rather than because it is waiting for something. However, the recovery from both situations is often the same. [Jargon File]